The sudden turn of events left the audience completely bewildered.
While the crowd was clueless, Tony saw everything clearly.
Qin Xiao was standing on the rooftop, waving a half-broken PVC pipe—torn from some ventilation shaft—at him.
*I spent all my effort creating a portable battle suit, and this guy still had to save me,* Tony thought bitterly. *But what choice did I have? Without the suit, I'm practically helpless.*
Tony sat dejectedly beside the wreckage of his race car, gasping for breath.
*Boom!*
The ground beside him shattered as Qin Xiao leaped from the rooftop, landing right next to Tony.
"Wow!"
The crowd lining the racetrack erupted in a frenzy.
Many were fans of the Qin Xiao-Tony ship, and seeing them together again made them scream involuntarily.
"Get up already! There are plenty of people shouting your name up there. Don't tell me you're too scared to wet yourself! By the way, I was afraid I'd miss, so I ripped down a bunch of PVC pipes from the rooftop earlier. I'm not paying for those."
Qin Xiao extended his right hand to Tony.
Just as he pulled Tony to his feet, a screeching sound of tires filled the air.
Happy arrived with Pepper, driving Tony's car.
Seeing Qin Xiao standing there and Tony looking relatively unharmed, they both let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Next time, you'd better take this with you when you shower, boss!" Happy said, tossing the Mark 5 at Tony's feet.
"I'll seriously consider it. Can't let this guy steal the spotlight every time, can I? What a shame for my racing career!" Tony said, picking up the briefcase and glancing in the direction where Ivan Vanko lay unconscious.
The appearance of another miniature Arc Reactor filled Tony with a sense of crisis, yet he also found it utterly unbelievable. He was confident that his technology couldn't be cracked—at least not for several years.
So he was eager to compare the two reactors.
But as he looked, Ivan Vanko had somehow staggered to his feet.
A whip cracked through the air, slicing the car Happy was driving into two perfect halves.
The rear seat, where Pepper sat, was cleanly separated from Happy in the front.
"Ah!!!!" Pepper screamed, her voice piercing the air.
Tony, however, was grinning with excitement. "Finally, my turn to shine. Guard them. I'll handle him. Next time, you should find a crowbar to pry off a metal pipe."
Qin Xiao rolled his eyes. He'd been in a hurry earlier and couldn't find anything suitable. It was already impressive that he'd managed to identify the PVC pipe from such a distance. Who knew the guy would be up and staggering so quickly after being knocked out? What kind of constitution did he have?
After giving his instructions, Tony dropped the Mark 5 onto the ground, positioned himself, and stomped down. Grabbing the armrests, he yanked upward.
The main body of the armor already encased him. Other parts began extending, automatically locking into place to cover Tony's entire body.
With a dazzling display of transformation, Happy and Pepper had already exited the car and were now shielded behind Qin Xiao.
A flash of white light flickered behind Tony's visor as the armor fully activated.
He kicked the obstructing half of the car aside with a single, decisive motion.
By this point, Ivan Vanko posed little threat. His earlier movement had been an instinctive reaction.
In truth, he was severely dizzy, his vision blurry. He swayed unsteadily, struggling to maintain his balance.
Tony was about to activate his laser cannon to deliver a decisive blow.
Suddenly, a figure scrambled over the barbed wire fence behind Ivan Vanko, clutching a brick he'd somehow pried from somewhere.
With a single hand, the newcomer tore through the wire, then kicked off the fence with both legs.
He soared over the two-meter-high barrier, and as he plummeted toward the ground, he swung his right arm.
The brick landed squarely on the top of Ivan Vanko's head.
The combined force of the attacker's strength and the two-meter fall shattered the brick against Vanko's skull.
The already unsteady Ivan Vanko crashed to the ground in a heap.
"I didn't know you were here. After all that running, it wasn't a wasted effort. You must ensure your enemy is completely incapacitated, or you'll be the one to suffer."
"Hello, Tin Man. I'm Qin Xiao's friend, Thor, the God of Thunder. No need to thank me!"
It was Thor, who had rushed down to help from the very beginning. After defeating Ivan Vanko, he gave Tony a lecture and introduced himself.
The laser cannon in Tony's raised right palm suddenly dimmed.
"I wasn't thanking you," Tony said, looking up at the sky. "I was just wondering... what exactly is the point of this suit of armor?"
***
When the police arrived, Ivan Vanko was still unconscious, the Arc Reactor in his chest already crushed to pieces by Tony's hand.
The race had completely stopped, and a swarm of reporters rushed onto the track, cameras trained on Qin Xiao and Tony.
"It's wonderful to see you both together again, having defeated a criminal wielding high-tech weapons. Would you mind striking your signature 'X' pose for a truly classic photo op for our magazine's cover tomorrow?"
The fastest reporter, barely having reached the duo, blurted out her request.
This female reporter was a devoted fan of their "CP" (couple pairing). The previous cover photo had actually been a composite of two separate shots. This time, she longed for a genuine picture of them together.
Never mind the magazine's sales—the thought alone made her heart race.
Completely oblivious to the two men's expressions, the excited reporter fumbled for a small camera from her bag. In addition to the official photos, she wanted one for her personal collection.
Without asking for their consent, she raised her camera and began counting down.
"X-pose, please! Come on, 1... 2... 3... Cheese!"
The response captured by her lens was two middle fingers thrust straight up toward the sky, accompanied by a synchronized curse: "Bitch!"
-----------------------
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